Optimists For The Win: Finding The Bright Side Might Help You Live Longer

"Good news for the cheery: A Boston study published this month suggests people who tend to be optimistic are likelier than others to live to be 85 years old or more."

"That finding was independent of other factors thought to influence life's length — such as "socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors," the researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health say. Their work appears in a recent issue of the science journal PNAS."

"'We wanted to consider, in the current issue, benefits of psychological resources like optimism as possible new targets for promoting healthy aging,' says Lewina Lee, who headed the study. She's a clinical research psychologist at Boston University. 'The more we know about ways to promote healthy aging the better.'"

"Researchers already knew from previous work that optimistic individuals tend to have a reduced risk of depression, heart disease and other chronic diseases. But might optimism also be linked to exceptional longevity? Lee looked at medical records from two long term research studies — one involving female nurses and the other involving men, mostly veterans."

"The study included 69,744 women and 1,429 men. Both groups completed survey measures to assess their level of optimism, as well as their overall health and health habits such as diet, smoking and alcohol use. In the survey, study participants were asked if they agreed with statements such as "in uncertain times I usually expect the best" or 'I usually expect to succeed in things that I do.'"